Friday, December 05, 2008

Playground "Pack Ass"

Playground is a Scandinavian outdoor equipment store chain, based in Stockholm. Our brief was to sell lightweight hiking equipment and tell people that Playground is the store to visit for any kind of hike. Their idea was to provide the ideal packing equipment for any occasion. Whether you prefer to hike the old school heavy way or if you want to hike extremely lightweight, you can always find what you need at Playground. They decided to broaden Playgrounds huge selection of lightweight hiking equipment, hiking tips and packing lists with a good alternative for the old school heavyweight hiker: a donkey. During a couple of weeks it was possible to purchase donkeys from Playground. A temporary donkey shelter was built up inside one of the stores where two test donkeys were placed so that visitors could touch and squeeze and compare to other products. The donkey's test hiking in the city also attracted a huge attention. Due to a small media budget they needed to come up with an idea that engaged people and encouraged them to interact with the advertising. PR was a vital part in the campaign in order to get people attention and to push them to the store. The campaign received a lot of attention and PR in local newspapers as well as in professional blogs. Test hiking also generated a lot of curiosity among people in the streets. In total Playground experienced an increase of visitors at 520 percent and sales growth at 317 percent compared to the same period the year before. Some donkey bidders also showed up, but without any donkey transaction. Now everybody knows where to turn to find the most appropriate hiking equipment, regardless of your needs.